Improving Jefferson picks up key win over Davenport Central

CEDAR RAPIDS — You want the kid that perfectly represents this Cedar Rapids Jefferson boys' basketball team? It's Dennis McKinney.

The 6-foot-4 senior forward was a junior varsity player last season, dressed for one single varsity game, and that's it. Tuesday night, he wasn't just in the J-Hawks' starting lineup, he was a big factor in their 69-59 win over Davenport Central.

Like his team as a whole, he has improved ... a lot.

'I'm a way better player,' said McKinney, who recorded a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds. 'To play on JV last year and suit up for one game, that drove me the most. I was doing what I could to help, but I felt like it wasn't enough. It was an obligation to make myself better, so I could contribute to this program. Give to it what it has given to me, which was the opportunity to play Jefferson basketball.'

Jefferson (4-9) won once a season ago, but this was its fourth victory of 2015-16. Take into consideration the J-Hawks have four losses by three points or less, including their previous three games, and the westside has become a very competitive side.

This one had the feeling of a psychological get-over-the-hump victory, too, because Central (8-4) is a good team.

'This is one we've been waiting for,' said second-year Coach Brandon Horman. 'I think this was definitely a breakthrough win. The most encouraging thing about it, yet, is that there are things I know we can get better with. That was probably the most encouraging thing for me. This was far from a flawless effort. But this was a total team effort in every aspect.'

As Horman said, there are things to improve upon. For instance, Jeff turned it over 24 times, which is a recipe for disaster most of the time.

But the J-Hawks showed resiliency. Central took a 52-51 lead in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter, but Jefferson went on a 12-2 run to establish a 63-54 edge.

'I just think this time we were determined that we weren't going to let it happen again,' said Jefferson's Adam Van Oort, who had a team-high 20 points. 'That experience from the last couple of games helped. I think we knew we were going to pull this one out.'

Valentino Green added 14 points for Jeff, with Kane Kramer making it four players in double-figure scoring. He had 10.

Jefferson led this tightly officiated game at all three quarter breaks, though never by more than three points. The teams combined to shoot 60 free throws.

Tirique Randolph and Timothy Rummels led Central with 14 points each, though Rummels fouled out early in the fourth after receiving a technical foul immediately following his fourth personal foul.

'We felt like we had to come out here early,' McKinney said. 'Not start slow and have to fight our way back. We don't want to have to do that. We want to play up, attack, instead of feeling like we have to make a shot. I feel like we did that tonight, and, in the end, it paid off.'

AT C.R. JEFFERSON

DAVENPORT CENTRAL (59): Tirique Randolph 4-14 5-5 14, Timothy Rummels 6-11 2-3 14, Ray Miller 5-13 2-6 12, Tyrique Vesey 2-5 1-3 5, Sallu Kargbo 1-4 2-4 4, RayShawn Bourrage 3-7 2-6 10, Deshawn Summage 0-3 0-0 0, Daejon Thorpe 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-58 14-27 59.

C.R. JEFFERSON (69): Dennis McKinney 7-12 0-2 14, Adam Van Oort 5-9 4-6 14, Kane Kramer 2-7 5-6 10, Royshawn Webb 1-3 5-8 7, Valentino Green 5-9 4-6 14, Treyton McCauley 1-1 0-0 2, Grant Wiederin 0-0 0-1 0, Brandon Burnett 1-1 0-0 2, Curtis Shaw 0-1 0-0 0, Zachary Larsen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-43 23-33 69.

Halftime — Jefferson 36, Central 33. 3-point goals — Central 3-15 (Randolph 1-10, Miller 0-1, Kargbo 0-1, Bourrage 2-3). Jefferson 2-11 (Van Oort 1-5, Kramer 1-5, Shaw 0-1). Rebounds — Central 29 (Miller 7), Jefferson 40 (McKinney 10). Total fouls — Central 25, Jefferson 22. Technical foul — Rummels. Fouled out — Rummels, Kargbo. Turnovers — Central 15, Jefferson 24.

l Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com